Chapter 26
Following Lea, Se-Hoon soon arrived at the bustling streets of Aqar Quf. There, he was surprised by the sight before him.
“There are so many.”
Everywhere he looked, he saw a restaurant sign; it was as if every business on the street was a restaurant. And, due to it being lunchtime, an enormous crowd filled the street as well.
“Is it always this crowded here?” he asked, amazed at the sheer number of people. He felt as though he would be swept away by the crowd if he wasn't careful.
“It does seem more crowded than usual since it’s the first week of school, but it’s not much different normally. I mean, there are a lot of popular restaurants in Aqar Quf.”
“I see...”
Despite the amount of congestion, people moved smoothly like flowing water. Since both students and staff members seemed very accustomed to moving without bumping into one another, the scene was very orderly.
This sight can only be seen here...
As he quietly observed the crowd, Lea, who was leading the way, looked back.
“What are you doing? Chop-chop, hurry up.”
“Alright.”
She navigated through the crowd and eventually stopped in front of a store located halfway down the bustling street: Aqar Quf Hardware Store.
Unlike the surrounding stores that were neatly organized, all sorts of cooking utensils were piled messily up like a mountain at the entrance of this hardware store.
Noticing how worn out they were, he asked Lea, “What is this place?”
“I told you that we were going to my workplace.”
With those words said, she entered the store as if no further explanation was needed. Entering after her, Se-Hoon looked around. Given its location among the restaurants, the interior was mostly filled with kitchen-related utensils.
After some observation, he found them intriguing.
These are pretty well-made.
Though they were piled up like a cluster of random items, he was able to notice the marks of craftsmanship that were left on them by a skilled artisan who had mastered the basics.
Intrigued, Se-Hoon closely examined the utensils. Meanwhile, Lea looked the back of the shop.
“Granny! I’m back!” Lea suddenly shouted toward the back of the shop with an overly loud voice.
At Lea’s voice, an elderly woman appeared, parting the ladles that hung like curtains. Her sharp eyes, downturned corners of her mouth, the chopsticks that were used as a hairpin, and her loose work clothes, gave off a rather fierce atmosphere.
“I’m not deaf, you know.”
“I know, but you won’t come out unless I call you like this,” said Lea.
“Be quiet.”
Helena, the elderly woman who seemed annoyed at Lea, promptly turned to look at Se-Hoon who was standing behind her.
“Who’s this kid? Your boyfriend?”
“Ah, no way. He’s an underclassman that entered the academy this year. Again, he’s just an underclassman.”
“Hmm. A freshman, I see.”
Hearing Lea’s reply, Helena blatantly scanned Se-Hoon up and down and then clicked her tongue.
“Tsk tsk. Babel has really gone downhill, bringing in such a softie.”
Although it sounded like she was picking a fight, Se-Hoon wasn’t offended at all.
I am pretty weak.
In terms of physical abilities, he was among the lowest of this year’s freshmen. The only reason he was admitted was his skill. If he hadn’t retained the memories of his life before the regression, that would probably have prevented his admission.
As he wasn’t upset, he nodded, agreeing with her. The sight of it caused Helena’s expression to change subtly.
“Are you sure you should be saying that?” asked Lea with a smirk on her face.
“What?”
“He’s actually this year’s honor student of Borsippa College, and, in fact, he’s also a student of the Department of Blacksmithing.”
“Really? This kid here is?” Helena’s eyes widened in surprise.
At her reaction, Se-Hoon smiled and nodded slightly.
“Hello. I’m Lee Se-Hoon, a first-year student of the Department of Blacksmithing.”
“...Helena.”
“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am.”
Now that introductions were done, Helena glanced at Lea strangely and grumbled.
“Stop messing around and get to work. Because of freshmen this week, a lot has piled up.”
“Okay. Come this way.”
Lea led Se-Hoon through a path hidden by frying pans, which revealed a large workshop.
Hm...
Though it looked a bit old to Se-Hoon, the workshop had all of the necessary tools. They were all in good condition, each bearing the marks of proper maintenance and the skill of a capable blacksmith.
That old lady seems to be more skilled than I thought.
He couldn’t understand why she was running a hardware store here.
“Ugh...”
Lea groaned at the sight of the pile of kitchen utensils.
“It’s pretty bad...”
Seeing her disgusted expression, Se-Hoon approached to inspect the piled items.
I guess these are for repair.
On each utensil, enchantments with signs of wear from repeated use were clearly visible. Now realizing what Lea did at her workplace, he commented, “So, enchanting them is your job here?”
“Correct! It’s a pretty sweet deal because I can earn money enchanting things as much as I want without worrying about the cost,” she said with a smile as she showed him a frying pan that had its enchantment worn off.
Since enchanting kitchen utensils likely wouldn’t earn her much, the opportunity to freely practice enchanting must have been the main appeal.
“Come on, didn’t you say you wanted to see my enchantments? Come here.”
She tapped the space next to her as she pulled an enchantment palette toward her side.
The palette was filled with sixteen powders of various colors, each made from ground mana stones.
Quite the assortment, considering that normal palettes only include eight colors.
As he observed the palette with interest, Lea took out her enchanting brush from her sleeve.
“I’m going to start.”
Infused with her mana, the tip of the brush lit up blue, but when she dipped it into the red powder, it started to shimmer with a red glow.
Now coated, she flipped the pan and slowly moved the brush.
Swish
With a swirling red aura, her brush swiftly passed over the faded enchantment runes, reviving the lifeless bottom of the frying pan.
In an instant, the enchantment came back to life.
To revive a damaged enchantment so easily... she’s definitely quite skilled. Se-Hoon was impressed.
Reviving a damaged enchantment was like patching torn clothes; if the patch’s color was slightly off or the stitching was sloppy, it would be clearly visible.
Usually, it was easier to remove the entire enchantment and start anew. Lea, however, flawlessly restored the enchantment, making it seem as if it was freshly done.
As he watched the process, he nodded to himself.
Not bad.
Her fundamentals were flawless, allowing him to easily see the cause of her slump without too much examination.
I should be able to solve it pretty easily.
Right as he figured out a solution for her slump and was about to speak, she picked up a new pot after finishing and immediately began enchanting once again.
“...”
Completely absorbed in her work, she continued enchanting without blinking once. Se-Hoon smiled quietly at the sight.
Nice.
Being able to immerse oneself like that was a talent in and of itself.
Even while struggling with a slump, she was diligently building her foundation as an enchanting genius. Deciding to let her finish, he quietly stood up to look around the workshop again.
There’s pretty much every tool here. Maybe I should make my new hammer here... hm?
His eyes sparkled after spotting the rectangular stones of various colors that were lined up on one side of the workshop. Immediately recognizing that they were whetstones, he immediately walked over.
They’re all special-made.
The whetstones were not just for sharpening but also for adding special effects through resonance with mana arrays. They all required precise usage to avoid damaging the blade, but Se-Hoon had a rough idea of how to use them.
The honed blade would be quite sharp....
Just by touching the whetstones, he could imagine the sharpness of the finished blade. Having recently imbued the Radiant Long Sword with a sharp white light, he felt eager to hone a blade. Having the proper tools in front of him just made it even harder for him to resist.
As he pondered what to do―
“Try using one.”
Helena’s brusque voice suddenly sounded from the corridor.
“If you even can, that is.”
She looked over with a challenging gaze as she leaned against the wall with her arms crossed,
Se-Hoon pointed at the whetstones.
“Can I really use them?”
“Yes. Just pick any of those knives piled up over there.”
He looked at the various types of kitchen knives, each with a damaged blade, that were stacked on one side of the workshop.
I assume these are meant to be sharpened later.
Although he felt somewhat exploited, he took it as a chance to use a special-made whetstone.
“Understood.” So he accepted her offer.
Before choosing a whetstone, he examined the piled-up knives.
While I’m at it, I might as well grind a proper knife.
He picked up a crude knife from among the plain-looking ones, which surprised Helena.
“You’re going with that one?”
“Yes. It seems like it was used by a skilled person. It’ll be satisfying to sharpen.”
The blade of a knife usually carried the mark of its user. To Se-Hoon, the person who wielded this knife seemed well-versed in swordsmanship.
The blade is evenly worn and not twisted.
While a regular person would’ve considered it dull halfway through its wear, this knife’s owner pushed it to its limits with their skill.
Whoever that person was, they were clearly skilled in handling a sword.
Let’s see. For the whetstone... I’ll use this one.
Among the whetstones, there was one that had the most evenly compressed mana particles. He believed that the craftsman who could create such a whetstone would be able to handle the extreme sharpness of the resulting honed blade.
Whirrrr-
He sprinkled water mixed with mana stone powder on the whetstone and began honing the blade slowly.
Shhhhhk- Shhhhhk-
As the blade scraped against the whetstone, it slowly regained its sharpness, shining brightly.
Helena straightened up from her slouch and intently watched him, who had already become lost in his work.
“...”
Is he really a freshman who just entered the academy this year?
As she continued staring at the knife in his hand, she found the sight more and more unbelievable. As if entering a lull, the workshop became filled with only the sounds of sharpening and a brush.
Moments later, the two sounds died down.
“Done!!!”
Now finished with enchanting the last ladle, Lea straightened up and cheered.
“Oh. Since when have you been here, Granny?”
“I don’t know.”
“Huh, why are you so grumpy... ah.”
Noticing Se-Hoon inspecting a knife, Lea smirked, soon realizing what had happened.
“Looks like he caught you by surprise, right?”
“Be quiet.”
Smack!
“Ouch!”
Helena smacked Lea’s forehead with a metal chopstick and approached Se-Hoon, who had finished honing the blade.
“Are you done?”
“Um...”
At her question, Se-Hoon looked at the blade, which was glowing a faint blue.
The sharp aura gently rippling over the blade was a phenomenon caused by the surrounding mana being naturally drawn to the sword’s mana array.
Although this indicated that the knife was properly honed using the special-made whetstone, Se-Hoon frowned at the result.
It’s not perfect yet.
Compared to the sharpness that he should have achieved with this whetstone, this was merely a superficial attempt. The incomplete result disappointed him.
If only my mana was able to keep up with the process... tsk.
He sighed internally and looked at Helena, who was gazing at him intently.
“This is as far as I can go for now,” he honestly answered.
“Alright. Both of you can leave now.”
Seemingly losing interest in them, she pointed at the corridor with her chopstick. Se-Hoon put down the knife without hesitation and stood up.
“You don’t have to be so irritated... let’s leave,” said Lea.
“Okay.”
As Lea rubbed her forehead and grabbed Se-Hoon’s arm to head out―
“Can you hone this blade the same way next time?” asked Helena suddenly as she looked at the knife.
At her question, Se-Hoon smiled after a moment of thought.
“Next time, I’ll do an even better job.”
“I’ll contact you when we’re short on hands. Drop by if you’re interested.”
After the blunt response, Helena turned away.
“I’ll look forward to it,” said Se-Hoon as he nodded.
Leaving those words, the two left. Helena, now alone in the workshop, stared at the knife Se-Hoon had sharpened as if she was entranced.
And in that moment of strange silence...
“Sister! Are you forging something right now?!”
A burly man entered the workshop with a booming voice.
“What? You’re not even doing anything. Why didn’t you answer me?!”
“Be quiet.”
“If you answered me earlier, I wouldn’t have been this noisy in the beginning. Where’s the knife? The orders are piling up!”
The man’s incessant urging made Helena frown and glance over.
“When will you give up on that restaurant? You, a professor of the Department of Swordsmanship, of all people...”
“You should learn how to respect other people’s hobbies. Whatever, where’s the knife... ah, there it is!”
Spotting his knife, he strode over and picked it up. A peculiar expression appeared on his face as he examined it.
“Huh? Did you drink again last night? The condition of the blade is a bit off.”
“No.”
“What do you mean, no? The blade is only about 70% of its usual quality. You can’t do this to me, a regular.”
“I didn’t hone it,” she calmly responded to the grumbling man.
“What? Then who did? Did you call those old acquaintances of yours to do it?”
“A freshman did.”
“...What?”
At her words, Kasar, the swordsmanship professor, became puzzled. To this, with a certain intensity in her eyes, she just repeated her words.
“A freshman who just entered the academy this year honed it.”
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